Imagine a conversation between Sigmund Freud and CS Lewis, the author of the world of Narnia … This is the whole subject of “Freud, the last confession” by Matt Brown. To see currently in theaters.
After Montgomery Clift in Freud, Passions Secret (1962) by John Huston and Viggo Mortensen in Dangerous Method (2011) by David Cronenberg, it is Anthony Hopkins' turn to embody Psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud in the cinema in Freud, the latest confession of Matt Brown.
In this film, the actor embodies Freud in the last days of his life. Refugee in London with his daughter Anna, Freud became – under the effect of age and illness – a bitter and capricious old man. But the professor's curiosity is stung up when a certain CS Lewis (Matthew Goode), a claimed novelist and Christian, mentions it in one of his publications. Their meeting around the question of God will turn to the duel …
Fourteen years after Dangerous Method, in which Freud (Viggo Mortensen) faced Carl Gustav Jung (Vincent Cassel), the founding father of psychoanalysis meets here the author of Narnia World in a fictitious face-to-face.
A fictitious meeting between Freud and the author of Narnia
The film, which is in the form of an oratory game between the two men, interspersed with flashbacks, is adapted from the play “Freud's Last Session“From Mark St. Germain (also screenwriter of the film), herself inspired by the book”The Question of God “ of the psychiatrist and professor to Harvard Armand Nicholi.
Contrary to what one might think, Freud, the last confession is not a biopic. He imagines a meeting between Sigmund Freud, an atheist thinker, father of psychoanalysis, and CS LewisChristian writer Converted, author of the world of Narnia.
This fictitious confrontation puts two conceptions of existence in parallel: one based on science, analysis and disenchantment, the other on faith, hope and mystery.
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A confrontation of ideas, not a biopic
The director Matthew Brown specifies in the press kit: “What attracted me to this project is not so much Freud himself as the relevance of the film and the themes he explores. “He adds: “The idea that two people choose to engage in a discussion on a question as controversial as the existence of God, and that they do it with the sincere will to exchange, seemed to me both fascinating and timely.
I regret that people cannot have such essential conversations today, promoting greater tolerance and mutual respect. This is what really attracted me to this project. “
Matthew Brown sees in this imaginary meeting a reflection on our divided world: “This film deals, in many ways, tolerance. Because of accepting that some do not share the same beliefs as us, and to consider that it is normal. […] Perhaps we should adopt this approach a little more often in our life. “
Throughout the film, CS Lewis and Freud question themselves and are listened to despite their differences in ideas.
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Matthew Goodeknown for his roles in The Crown, Downton Abbey, The Offer or Imitation Game, embodies a CS Lewis all in subtlety. The film underlines the tormented past of Lewis: Orphan, traumatized veteran of the First World War marked by the death of his friend, so many wounds which nourish his found faith.
The all -finesse interpretation of the British actor makes it possible to humanize Lewis, often confined to the image of the author of the world of Narnia, and to make him a real philosophical counterpoint to the father of psychoanalysis.
Anthony Hopkins: from CS Lewis to Sigmund Freud
Notable fact, Anthony Hopkins, had already lent his features to the author CS Lewis in the romance of Richard attent Boch Les shadows of the heart. This time he interprets Sigmund Freud and gives the psychoanalyst all the tragic greatness of a man who has never stopped thinking.
Anthony Hopkins has long worked to blend into the character of Freud, modulating his voice and working for his posture for months. Matthew Brown says: “He shaped this rocky voice, which asked him for a huge effort. It was not easy. […] He is a master in his art, and at the same time, he pushes you, as a director, to think about your approach. “
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This is not the first time that Hopkins has lent his features to a historic figure since he has already played Richard Nixon in Nixon by Oliver Stone (1995), Pablo Picasso in Picasso surviving by James Ivory (1996), Alfred Hitchcock in Hitchcock by Sacha Gervasi (2012), Benoît XVI Meirelles (2019) and more recently Nicolas Winton, in a life by James Hawes.
Beyond fiction, Freud, the last confession invites us to relearn the art of dialogue. A film as intimate as it is deep, to be discovered in theaters.
